


Roy/Ed - Drabble Collection

by zosimos (trismegistus)



Series: Fullmetal Alchemist [17]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime 2003)
Genre: Drabble Collection, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-28
Updated: 2014-08-29
Packaged: 2018-02-15 02:22:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 27
Words: 8,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2212176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trismegistus/pseuds/zosimos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of all the short Roy/Ed ficlets I've been posting on tumblr & typetrigger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. spilled coffee

Roy took a sip from his mug without looking at it, and spit the coffee right back into the cup. The action startled Lieutenant Havoc, who was mid-sentence, and he paused, unsure. Roy ignored him, wiped his mouth with the back of a gloved hand, and stared down into the coffee cup suspiciously. 

"Sir…?" Havoc offered cautiously. 

"Has Fullmetal been around the percolator?" Roy asked, sloshing the contents of the mug and watching the sludge move around in slow circles. "I think he "fixed" it again." 

The coffee that Edward made on his own more often than not resembled motor fuel. Roy was unsure at what point he had killed all his tastebuds, but when left to his own devices around the percolator, the entire office suffered. “Havoc, fix this.” 

"Yes, sir." Lieutenant Havoc saluted, scooped up Roy’s mug, and bolted from the office. Roy growled and rubbed his forehead, irritated at the turn of events. Edward never used to be a common staple of the garrison. The fact that he had tethered himself into Central Command for the foreseeable future was beginning to give Roy heartburn. It wasn’t that he was incompetent; quite the opposite, when put to a task Edward was surprisingly single-minded, and he had been diligent about his paperwork even if his reports read like a petulant schoolchild’s. No, it was the conflict in personalities that had been a quaint amusement at first, but now was serving as the catalyst to Roy going prematurely grey. 

They were too much alike, and that was the root of the problem. Roy scrubbed a hand through his hair, and only realized when some of his hair stuck to the glove that was the one he had used to wipe his mouth. 

This day was off to a spectacular start.


	2. simple

"Brother," Alphonse said, and Edward ducked his head again, ignoring the suit of armor next to him and finding the front-facing painting far more interesting. Alphonse sighed, placed both of his gauntlets on Edward’s shoulders, and steered him back toward the street. 

"Hey, hey, HEY-" Edward bellowed as his brother bulled him forward. Pedestrians mostly ignored them both, Edward throwing a tantrum in the market not far from base was, sadly, not an uncommon occurrence. "Al, stop- AL STOP-" 

"No, brother," Alphonse’s voice was firm. "You keep turning tail and running and changing the subject and it’s time you stopped." 

"I AM NOT RUNNING AWAY!" 

Volume was Edward’s go-to whenever Alphonse overpowered him (which in this form was often). Alphonse stopped, but did not let his brother loose. Edward squirmed under his hands. “You really want to have this discussion right here?” 

"I don’t even know what I’m supposed t’be running away FROM." 

Alphonse leaned down in, his helmet scraping along his helm as he did so, bringing it in close. “I saw you kiss the colonel, brother.” 

Seven words, uttered in a low tone, and Edward froze up, every muscle locked, his eyes wide and his face flushed red. Alphonse resisted the urge to sigh again, instead he scooped up Edward and arranged him over his shoulder, avoiding the spikes. “Honestly, brother,” he said, as Edward continued his impersonation of a dead fish. “You don’t see the colonel acting like this.” 

Those words brought Edward to life again, and he kicked his boots off of Alphonse’s empty chest cavity. “That’s because that bastard couldn’t be embarrassed over something to save his fuckin’ life!” His boots made a hollow pinging noise as he kicked again. “Al, put me DOWN, fucking HELL-“ 

"Nope," Alphonse said. "We’re going to see the colonel."


	3. an opening

Roy Mustang was quite possibly the most guarded person Edward had met in all his travels. He kept his armor up in every situation - on the street, in the office, even the rare times that he himself came to check on the brothers’ progress in the the library. There were no chinks to be found in that silky smooth demeanor, placating yet calculating, and Mustang watched everything with razor-sharp attention. 

What he didn’t seem to realize was that Edward was watching HIM. 

Edward loved puzzles. It was perhaps a side-effect of his passion for alchemy; what greater puzzle was there than elements themselves, and the perfect configuration of lines that would create the ideal transmutation? And Mustang was a puzzle all right, and that captured Edward’s attention randomly, and wholly. 

It was somewhere in there that the dreams started; but like Alphonse, Edward simply pretended that had nothing to do with anything, and his beginning-to-be-daily bolts to the bathroom first thing in the morning were just becoming par for the course. 

It all came to a head quickly, with Roy sitting behind his desk sighing melodramatically about Edward’s atrocious report-writing capabilities and Edward just staring at him. Roy looked up, a little nonplussed at the attention, and said something he would likely regret to the end of his days. 

"What’s the matter, Fullmetal?" Roy sat forward, one elbow on the desk and his chin in his hand, clearly intending to scare him off with his best sultry, woman-killing smile. "See something you like?" 

The air evaporated from Edward’s lungs, he couldn’t have replied if he wanted to. The entirety of his obsession came crashing down on him at once, and everything moved into crystal-clear focus. 

He smiled shakily, eyes far too bright as he met Roy’s gaze evenly. “Yes.”


	4. done for

It is late, he is tired and hungry and so completely done with paperwork that the thought of burning the remainder of the stack to ashes had been the foremost thought on his mind for an hour. The only thing saving the aforementioned stack of paperwork was the fact that there would be far more gruesome things in store for him in the morning if Lieutenant Hawkeye came in and found a bin full of ashes beside his desk. 

Roy groaned and put his head on his arms. The office was mostly dark, everyone was gone for the evening and he could, for a brief moment, let the mask slide and just enjoy a good sulk. It was his own damn fault he let the reports get so far behind, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t stew in self-pity for a while. 

Or, perhaps even fantasize about a certain petite, blond-haired…. 

No. No, he threw the emergency brake on that train of thought and sat up quickly. He was tired, that was the explanation, he was tired and he let his guard down and he didn’t have the time to sit here and psychoanalyze how fucked up his brain was to even divert in that direction. He was not going to have explicit fantasies about a subordinate. 

Especially not an underage, male one. 

Roy scrubbed both of his hands over his face and sighed. He needed to send Fullmetal out of Central City yesterday, he simply could not concentrate on his work when thoughts of that leather-clad ass dominated his mind. 

Leather-clad, tightly toned, leaves-nothing-to-the-imagination … he was thankful that Fullmetal wore that accursed red coat most of the time, at least it meant he wouldn’t be caught gawking in public. 

HELL, he had to stop thinking about Edward’s ass.


	5. swallowed pride

The quiet patter of rain on the window woke Roy from a listless sleep. He opened his eyes slowly, the room now lit by the murky light of dawn through a spring shower.

The couch always left him with a crick in his back, but it was better than sleeping in the bed. The bed reminded him of things he couldn’t have - absolution, a decent night’s sleep, blond hair spilled out over a tan back - and it was better to spend a short, restless night on a hard couch than to stare at the ceiling and count the ticking seconds until dawn.

He was getting worse. Even Havoc had noticed - Riza usually would not say anything unless she found it necessary, there was no point in hiding it from her - but to have slipped so far as to let the other members of his command easily notice? 

He paused in the foyer - and squinted at the second set of boots. Usually it was only his, the military boots cast off and then set upright in some modicum of dignity - but this was a pair of scuffed, red-soled combat boots.

Roy drug his hand through his hair and stared at the shoes in confusion. Then he turned and moved quickly down the hall, to where the door to his bedroom stood open to greet him. 

He was sleeping on Roy’s side of the bed, curled around a pillow, blond hair worked loose from a tight plait, the dim light glinting off of his automail. 

Roy sank into a seated position in the doorway, held upright only by the doorframe itself. He couldn’t reconcile this sight with reality, no matter where the blood supply in his body was headed, this wasn’t real. It could not be.


	6. trust

"Colonel," Riza Hawkeye said, standing before his desk. "I am not sure that I approve of what is going on between you and Edward." 

Roy looked up from his paperwork - he had reports on hand he could easily go to whenever the door to his office opened,especially by Riza - and tried his best to look innocent. “I am not sure what you mean, Lieutenant.” 

Riza’s solid look of disapproval told him to cut the bullshit immediately. She was the one person in this entire building who could see through him no matter what, and he owed her that much. “My apologies, it’s a reflex.” 

"Plausible deniability only goes so far," Riza murmured. 

"There is nothing inappropriate going on between us," Roy said firmly. "Fullmetal is simply getting a bit adventurous as his hormones kick in." 

Her look was still calling bullshit, but Roy was proud of his poker face. After a long moment, Riza sighed. “We are not through with this conversation,” she told him pointedly. “But it is one more appropriate to have off the clock. That being said, the Inksler report is due before lunch, and you have a meeting with Lieutenant Colonel Davis after.” 

Roy nodded his head and watched as Riza left the office, shutting the door behind her. Once the door was closed, he let out a big sigh of relief. She was terrifyingly on point, today. 

He felt a nudge at his knee and glanced down. Edward was huddled underneath his desk, between his legs - one hand flat on his thigh, his head resting on the other as he stared up at Roy with eyes that glimmered from the shadows. 

"Nothing inappropriate?" he asked, and then ran his fingers up Roy’s naked erection. 

"Completely consensual," Roy clarified, and Edward smirked.


	7. last kiss

"I really fucking hate predawn trains," Edward said, his anger punctuated by a yawn. He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand and glared forward, and Roy could not help but smile at the mannerism. 

He walked several steps behind Edward - it was not uncommon for them to be seen out together, technically Edward (and Alphonse, as well) were warded to him by the military. No eyebrows were raised by this, then - although astute observers would take note of the fact that they were both meeting Alphonse at the train station. 

(They would also note the strange, slightly exaggerated stride that Edward was displaying, but few save the most suspicious would chalk it up to simply being a teenager.) 

Edward glanced back over his shoulder to Roy. “You didn’t have to come,” he said pointedly, and Roy brushed a gloved hand down the front of his military uniform. 

"You make such a racket in the morning, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep anyway," he said smoothly, and Edward flushed. If he hadn’t gotten up as well, there would not have been any shower shenanigans, and it was clear Edward was realizing that as well. 

"Edward," Roy said, and Edward hesitated a second, just long enough for Roy to catch his sleeve. Roy addressing him by name was strange and uncommon, and because of that hesitation it afforded Roy the opportunity to yank Edward into his arms, turning his face up and kissing him. 

The street was empty, only a single car puttered past, a taxi on its way to the same train station. The first hints of a rosy dawn were brushing the rooftops, and a gentle mist earlier had left dewdrops in Edward’s hair. He broke away from Roy, and Roy smiled sadly. “Farewell.”


	8. time lapse

Roy almost forgot to breathe when Edward stepped off the train, and it was only by liberal application of Lieutenant Havoc’s elbow into his side that he remembered the vital importance of oxygen. 

It was only five months that Edward had been gone! 

Five long, important months - five months in which the Elric brothers had succeeded in their goal, in which Edward spent far too long in a hospital far away recovering, five months in which Roy would not admit to occasionally staring listlessly out a window instead of working toward his own goals. Five MONTHS. 

And yet here, Edward was - shot up like a weed, closer to Roy’s own height than he would ever be comfortable with, black leather and brilliant red exchanged for muted earth tones of soft browns and cream … and god help him, Edward was wearing a waistcoat. 

Edward stopped in front of him and eyed Roy uncertainly, then looked to Havoc, who saluted on reflex. “That’s unsettling, don’t do that,” Edward said to Havoc, and Havoc shrugged and dropped the salute. 

"You outrank me, boss, it’s only appropriate." He chomped his cigarette, and Edward shook his head. 

"Not for much longer, I’m out as soon as my certification expires." Edward clapped Roy on the shoulder as he passed. "I’m fucking starving, I didn’t expect you guys to meet me. Let’s go grab some lunch or something." 

Roy half-turned to watch Edward as he continued on, and was not disappointed. Although not nearly as form-fitting as his previous outfit, Roy’s eyes could follow his lines neatly - and Edward paused, glancing over his shoulder, obviously aware of Roy’s eyes on him. “See something you like, Mustang?” 

Roy’s grin turned absolutely wicked, and Havoc elbowed him again. “Not in public, colonel,” he reminded Roy.


	9. cafe

The busy bustling metropolis of Central City had come alive, the bright morning sun beaming down from a cloudless blue sky. Pedestrians chattered amicably with street vendors as others hurried along on foot to their destinations, creating a constant buzz of background noise. 

All of the beauty of the day was lost on one Edward Elric, who was sitting in the shade of an umbrella propped through the center of the table. He had folded his arms over the table, and had his face pressed into them. 

Roy placed a cup of coffee by Edward’s elbow. “I do not think I’ve ever seen you hungover,” he said, keeping the amusement off his face but not out of his voice. 

"Fuck off an’ die, Mustang," Edward’s muffled voice replied. 

The scrape of metal against cobblestone as Roy pulled the chair out made Edward wince and finally lift his head. He squinted at Roy, trying to glare but mainly scrunching up his face in odd ways. Roy was already dressed for work, the military uniform sitting straight and unwrinkled, the bright blue shining in the early morning sun. “What the fuck are you doing?” 

"Sitting down," Roy said, caught mid-action but not pausing. "I believe we were still planning on breakfast?" 

Edward noticed the coffee at his elbow and latched on to the mug gratefully. “Breakfast,” he sounded the word out like he had never heard it before. 

"Yes, that first meal after a long night fueled by alcohol and sex," Roy said, mildly amused at the way Edward flushed deep red on command. The younger man hunched forward, over the table still, arched over the coffee mug as if he was protecting it from Roy. 

"You think you’re clever but you’re not," Edward hissed, and Roy honestly laughed at his expression.


	10. under the house

It was never a good thing that Roy came home to Edward sitting on his front stoop. He wasn’t paying attention to the road, watching instead the progress of a tiny line of ants carrying away the crumbs from half a sandwich still in his hand. Roy sighed, stopping before Edward, and scratched at the back of his head wearily. “Fullmetal, what are you doing here?” 

Edward looked up at him, and pointedly took a bite of his sandwich. “Waitin’ on you.” 

Roy looked up and down the street. Late spring meant that the neighbors were out in force, working on lawns, watching children play in the yards and up the street. It was not the optimal place for a confrontation of any sort, and “discretion” was a word that Edward liked to avoid. “You’ll notice,” Edward continued airily, “that I did not let myself in.” 

"I see that," Roy said through gritted teeth. "It had perhaps escaped your notice that would have been the wisest option?" 

"Yeah, because me letting myself in my commanding officer’s home is a good idea," Edward flicked more crumbs at the ants. "Also, Al is stuck under the back porch and I think it’s funny." 

There was only one logical answer to that, and Roy blinked at Edward. “Alphonse is - what?” 

"Stuck. Remember how you told me a stray had kittens and was hiding in your - fuck was it called, some kinda bush in the back yard-" 

"And your brother scared them under the porch?" 

"Nah, the mom had already moved’em. He was just trying to get a look." Edward polished off the sandwich, and licked his fingers. "I didn’t want to go about transmuting your home without you knowin’ about it first." 

"I applaud your restraint," Roy sighed, as Edward beamed.


	11. rolling thunder

Thunderstorms never used to bother him, but that was before the war. Now, if he was woken by a terrific thunderclap, it was all Roy could do not to get the shakes. He would curl around a pillow, pull the covers tight over his head and attempt to rideout the storm’s fury - frightened like a small child. Thunder during the day was easy to brush off and ignore, but that giant crack like the sky was ripping in two, locked deep in the darkness of night, and he was petrified. 

At least, when he slept alone. 

The distance rumble of oncoming thunder woke him, his senses on high alert, Edward pulled close in his arms. Roy gripped Edward tighter, focused on him and tried to ignore the rain pounding against the windows. Edward had curled his fists - one flesh, the other heavy, cool metal - against Roy’s chest, his eyes scrunched tight, and Roy realized that Edward was shaking in his arms, trembling like a lost puppy. 

Roy kissed the top of Edward’s ruffled hair, burying his nose in it. Edward didn’t appear to be awake, he made no protest of being held close like this. He was a strange one, disliking being held but seeking it out as he slept. It was a comfort that Roy thought maybe he wasn’t allowing himself to have. Roy brushed his hand through Edward’s hair and tensed as the lightning lit the world outside the drawn curtains. 

The thunder rumbled closer, and Edward opened his eyes. “Hate storms,” he muttered, his voice thick with sleep. Roy wrapped his arms tighter around Edward, face buried in Edward’s hair at the crown of his head. Edward had stopped shaking, and Roy realized he hadn’t started to shake either. 

They were stronger, together.


	12. leave quietly

Edward had a love and hate relationship with Roy’s new office. On the one hand, it was nice that his desk no longer sat with the others - it meant a modicum of privacy when needed, and an exploitable place to nap and pester Roy when he was supposed to be working. 

On the other hand, it meant being called into the office took on a more sinister tone, especially when Roy instructed him to close the door without even looking up. The man had two moods while he was at work - playful, and ‘you’re fucked.’ 

(The second was not as fun as it sounded.) 

Edward tapped his foot impatiently, standing before the huge desk as Roy continued to peruse his paperwork. The bastard made him wait, he liked to make Edward antsy, to put him on edge. “Well?” Edward asked, finally, when he couldn’t contain himself further. 

"Tell me," Roy said, still not looking up. "Tell me it’s not a bad idea to send you after a manuscript in the Nor-" 

"Manuscript, what sort of manuscript?" Edward hopped from one foot to the other in his excitement. It wasn’t often that Roy offered him bait like this, it must be something he thought he could really use. 

"Honestly, Fullmetal," Roy said, putting his pen down. "Would you care to let me finish a sentence?" 

"Sorry," Edward muttered, not sorry in the slightest. 

"There is a very old manuscript on dark alchemy that was discovered in the North Library archives. Would I be incorrect in my assumption that you have at least a moderate proficiency in Xerxian?" 

Edward was still bouncing from foot to foot. “Speaking and reading, do they really not have anyone up there to translate-?” 

"No one as capable as you, sadly enough." Roy said pointedly.


	13. complicated

"I don’t understand you," Roy sighed, playing with the end of Edward’s braid idly. Edward was seated between his legs, back against the couch, a book propped open in his lap and half a sandwich dangling from his gob. Edward, for the most part, was ignoring him, concentrated more on the book at hand than the fact that Roy was teasing the ends of his hair. 

He really did not understand - when Edward had made mention of stopping by just this morning, Roy had assumed, well - they had barely seen each other in weeks, what ELSE was he going to assume? Edward surprised him at every turn, though, and after a wolfed-down dinner he settled on a sandwich for dessert (really?) and leaned back against the couch, a book open and lost to the world. 

He couldn’t help but smile. Roy really was not surprised that he was ditched for a new bit of arcana for Edward to chew over; he was voracious in his appetite for knowledge. All the same, he had been thinking about spreading Edward out on his bed all afternoon, brushing his hands through Edward’s hair, muffling his gasps and making him sob into the sheets …. 

These were the wrong thoughts to have when Edward was sitting between his legs, but hell, he couldn’t help himself. 

Edward tilted his head back, and came dangerously close to feeling Roy’s erection with the top of his head. Golden eyes, so much like a wolf’s, and Edward stared up at Roy silently as he considered. 

How had he ever worked himself into this situation, Roy would never figure out, but damn if Edward wasn’t pretty in the early evening light, the sunlight radiating off of his hair. Roy sighed, and smiled at Edward. Edward smiled back.


	14. always against

Whenever he needed to clear his head, there was always Alphonse. 

Edward bounded across the grass, his bare foot sliding slightly as he angled himself to absorb the attack and return it, his automail pinging off of Alphonse’s tough armor exterior. There were few things in this world that he didn’t have to pull his punches against, and currently his little brother was at the top of that list. 

Alphonse caught his foot and flipped him, but Edward caught himself before he could land on his back, spinning on his hands and turning the momentum to his advantage. 

It was cathartic, sparring like this. He could focus all of his energy, all of his pent-up frustration and anger into the satisfying chorus of metal against metal. He didn’t have to think about how Mustang was driving him crazy, didn’t have to think about how the man made him feel things he didn’t understand or know how to deal with, he didn’t have to think about his guilt and the weight of the world - he had to live in the moment, in this very moment and pay attention to what REALLY mattered …. 

…which currently was not allowing Al to knock his fucking block off. 

Alphonse caught him in midair, the impact of his arm (spikes faced the other way, thank goodness) driving all the breath from Edward’s lungs as he was forced back the way he came. He staggered back, feet sliding on the dew-slick grass and a leg sweep took him down. 

His brother immobilized him with one heavy boot, the treads digging into his flesh where his shirt rode up. “Pinned you,” Alphonse said cheerfully, not the slightest trace of exertion in his voice. 

Edward wheezed and banged on Al’s foot with his hand. “Lemme up, Al!”


	15. quiet down

Occasionally, Roy would wish desperately for a volume control on Edward. There had to be a way to create one, because when Edward got going about whatever pissed him off this week (the book in the library being missing, the PFCs snickering at him again, cabbage, and on and on) the volume steadily increased until someone, usually Alphonse, could distract him. 

There were other times, however, that the volume … didn’t quite matter as much. Those particular circumstances, though, the best way to shut Edward up (if he needed shutting up) involved shoving a pillow in his face - or better, just turning him over so he could make those thoroughly obscene noises straight into the mattress. 

Roy had no idea that all those years of perfecting his poker face would be ultimately used to keep his composure at work when his own train of thought derailed into off-the-clock territory. He swallowed and stared at the report in his hands, trying very hard not to return to the thought of Edward moaning into his arms. 

Edward stormed up to the desk and glared at Roy. “What, am I BOTHERING you, Mustang?” 

Roy’s eyes shot up, met Edward’s, and just like that everything clicked over. Roy glanced significantly to the door, which wasn’t closed completely. DAMN it. 

Edward followed his gaze to the door, and then looked back at Roy. “At the office? Damn, are you ever NOT horn-“ 

He was cut off by Roy rising to his feet, grabbing Edward by the front of his shirt and kissing him awkwardly, tilted over the desk. Edward’s eyes got huge, but he didn’t jerk away until Roy released him. 

"Yes," Roy rumbled, his eyes unusually bright. "At the office." 

"Oh," Edward said faintly - and he staggered back to close the door.


	16. hiding something

Sometimes it unsettled Edward how quickly this had become the norm; waking up in a bed with another person beside him, a warm breathing body that he could touch and feel. Alphonse - it’s not that he didn’t know where Edward disappeared to some nights, he just pretended he didn’t, because there was no way that Edward was successfully keeping this from his little brother. Al knew everything, he always did. 

He rolled up on his side, the sheet sliding down over his waist as he looked over at Mustang. Roy was either still asleep or faking it (the second one, assuredly, Roy didn’t like to show weakness, even to his lover in bed), but his breathing was still soft, and his mouth was slightly open. Edward stared at him, feeling that strange, warm fuzzy feeling in his belly that had become an almost permanent fixture when he looked at the man, and smiled. 

This was so WEIRD, how could he not…? Edward leaned over Roy, his hair loose and tangled down his back, and ran his hand down Roy’s jaw. He closed his mouth at Edward’s touch, but his eyes still did not open. “Faker,” Edward murmured, and leaned down to kiss Roy’s forehead. 

Hell, he wasn’t allowed to have something like this. He still had a duty and an obligation to Alphonse - that was supposed to come first, not his hormones. The guilt weighed off him like a physical thing, but he couldn’t help that - any more than he could help being captivated by Roy’s dark eyes and skilled (if snarky) mouth. 

A smile tugged at the corner of that same mouth, and Edward pushed at his shoulder. “Faker, open your eyes,” he said. 

Roy’s voice was sleepy. “I don’t want to wake from this dream.”


	17. exotic tastes

It was always a pleasure whenever Edward decided to take charge. It wasn’t that Roy minded being the top, but a change of pace was always nice - and Edward, despite (or perhaps because of) his smaller stature, like asserting his dominance. 

Roy rattled the handcuffs against the headboard. “I find myself both besought by curiosity and questioning my sanity trying to decide where you got these,” he said with a smirk, and Edward glowered at him. 

"You’re the one who came up with the ‘no alchemy in the bedroom’ rule, Mustang," he was breathless, his naked hips pressed against Roy’s. Roy licked his lips and watched Edward move, settling himself more solidly against Roy. He had his flesh hand around both of their erections, squeezing them together. 

"You could always, I don’t know, fuck me," Roy suggested hoarsely, and Edward glanced up at him from behind a curtain of bangs. 

"You’re impatient," Edward said, leaning forward and running his tongue over Roy’s stomach. "You always make me wait, why should this be any different?" 

Roy squirmed against him, and the pressure Edward put on his erection increased. He was grinning, that cocky brat, he enjoyed watching Roy very slowly come undone. Roy rattled the handcuffs again, trying to distract himself and Edward slid down his body, releasing him only to return the attention with his mouth. 

It was going to be too much, too fast. Edward’s mouth was quickly becoming one of Roy’s favorite things - despite the filth that spewed from it on a daily basis - it was hot and welcoming and he still wasn’t entirely sure how Edward learned to use his tongue like that and he didn’t want to think too hard on it. Roy arched his back, angled his hips and enjoyed the ride.


	18. enigmatic

Alphonse Elric sat across from his older brother on the train and pointedly ignored the fact that Edward kept shifting in his seat. The hard train benches were not usually that much of a bother to Edward - or at least, not usually until much, much farther along on their journey. 

Edward was at least trying not to make a big deal of his discomfort. Thankfully. Alphonse particularly liked to pretend that he did not know the source of the issue - there were some things he just simply did not want to think about. Edward had spent the night with Roy doing “research” (is THAT what they were calling it these days? Alphonse wasn’t blind, and Edward still changed in front of him … and a certain someone left hickeys where clothing would usually cover) and had come back cheery and chipper and not at all affected until he very gingerly sat down opposite Alphonse. 

Upon rare occasion, the armor was useful. 

Included upon those occasions were the massive, full-body blush of realization he would have had otherwise. 

At first, he was hurt that Edward didn’t seem inclined to reveal his relationship with the colonel to his little brother. After all, they shared pretty much everything else. However, he soon realized that Edward figured Alphonse already knew. His brother was pretty forthwith with most things - except the things that he hadn’t quite worked through yet - so he was probably still dealing with the emotional baggage of being involved with Colonel Mustang. That, or he had decided already this was just a physical thing and felt no need to mention it otherwise. 

Alphonse saw the way he looked at the Colonel when he thought no one was watching; there was no way it was anything else but THAT.


	19. shards of glass

Edward was on his tip-toes, balanced somehow against the counter, trying to edge the glass onto the the cupboard shelf. It was just slightly out of his reach, and normally he would have boosted himself onto the counter and simply sat there putting the clean cups away, but normally he had two working arms - and normally he would be able to get this done before anyone else was awake. 

But his arm was off (more like, ‘destroyed’), and he was dithering about, avoiding the trip to his mechanic and the potential doom that would bring him. He had been ordered three times to get to the train station and yet somehow something always came up. It had taken copious effort, but he had wormed a chink into the plate armor Mustang seemed to wear about him. 

"What on earth are you doing?" Mustang’s voice in the doorway startled Edward, and he lost that precarious balance he had, dropping back to flat-foot on the floor. The glass that had very nearly edged onto its shelf tottered a second, and then tumbled over his head. He made a vain grab but missed, and Edward winced as the cup shattered on the tile. 

If Roy wasn’t awake before, he certainly was now. “Fullmetal!” 

"Sorry, sorry-" Edward patted his pockets, looking for the chalk he usually kept on him when his usual method of transmutation was unavailable. "I’ll fix it." 

Roy crossed the kitchen and steered Edward away from the broken glass. “I’ve got half a dozen of those glasses easily,” he said, “Please, for the sake of my sanity, get out of my kitchen.” 

"YOUR kitchen?" Edward snorted, and Roy prodded him out of the room. "I was just trying to clean up." 

"I applaud your efforts," Roy said dryly. "Out."


	20. seed land

There was something strangely ominous about the fields stretched out from either side of the path. Roy Mustang stopped as the road curved, up along the edge of a sloping hill full of golden cornstalks that waved in the gentle afternoon breeze. It was a completely picturesque scene, the sky a gorgeous blue, the clouds sparse and cottony white. 

It would be a lovely day for a picnic on a sloping green hill, kicked back and watching the clouds scud across the sky - and even that thought seemed coached in a similar darkness. Roy didn’t like coming out here, he had never liked it and the beauty only seemed to make the feeling worse. 

Edward would tug at his arm and laugh - he had grown up in villages like this, farms spread across the landscape and the people sparse between them. He was comfortable in this environment - really, he was comfortable nearly everywhere, a talent that Roy had never seemed to acquire. Oh he, could mask his discomfiture with the best of them; but to Edward new environments and experiences were his bread and butter. He would be a fearsome diplomatic tool if Roy could ever quite get the rough bits smoothed out into something more … polished. 

But that was why he was here in the first place. The path led up the gentle slope of the hill, past the last of the fields and toward a cluster of two houses. He stopped at the low stone fence that divided property lines and thought about the first time he walked up this path, unsure of what he would find. 

He smiled and nudged the gate open, letting it click closed behind him. Maybe he didn’t like the journey, but the destination was all that really mattered.


	21. in too deep

It was not exactly the most romantic of moments - Edward was covered in mud, there was dried blood flaking off of his hair, and he was trailed by his younger brother, whose voice had not yet reached that shrill note of sheer panic but was clearly getting there - he stormed off the train, making a bee line straight for where Roy stood, with Riza at his elbow, murder in his eyes. 

Okay, maybe he had intentionally suggested to Alphonse that they take the earlier train - Edward had grown a bit too canny for that particular tactic, but Alphonse was to a fault unerringly polite, and was wise enough to realize that if Colonel Mustang suggested they get on a particular train, perhaps there was a very good reason to do so. 

"Good afternoon, Fullmetal," Roy said, letting just the slightest hint of a purr into the words. He saw the rage spike in Edward’s eyes, but he was confident that Edward at least knew enough to show some restraint in public. "I don’t quite understand the new look, though. Did you perhaps slip through the gap between the train and the platform again? I have told you to be mindful of that space…." 

Edward’s face turned this most lovely shade of crimson that proved he had gone so far into the rage territory that he wasn’t going to be able to speak for a few moments. A pity, when he was on his game the banter could be so delightful. Riza gave him a verbal reprimand with a sharply cleared throat, and that put an end to the shenanigans before Roy could push any more of his subordinate’s buttons. 

That was a shame, the more riled he got Edward, the more fantastic the sex would be later.


	22. walk past

It was a good five meters before Alphonse realized that he had lost Edward again. He stopped, stepping out of the way of pedestrian foot traffic and glanced back down the street the way he had come. 

Not for the first time, he felt a slight bit of wistful nostalgia for the ability to see easily over the heads of most of the people on the street - the armor did have its advantages, as few as there were - and started to retrace his steps. 

Fortunately, his brother was if anything predictable. He had stopped before an open shopfront, a variety store full of dusty knickknacks and various bits of refuse that really should have been binned long before. Edward had the attention span of a small bird - he could be distracted by shiny objects very, very easily. 

"Brother," Alphonse said, but Edward didn’t look over at him. His attention had clearly been captured by something that outweighed the fact that they had a train to catch, and really, Alphonse wanted to get out of town now, while the getting was good. "The train, brother." 

Edward finally looked over at him, and Alphonse was struck for a moment by the look in his eyes. Ever since he got his brother back, all those lonely years without him, and something had changed that he really didn’t understand. He seemed tired, somehow - but only when he thought Alphonse wasn’t looking. Whatever it was that bothered him, it also bothered him if Alphonse noticed it, so he pretended he didn’t, and Edward pretended he was okay, and those little lies hung heavy between them. 

"What - oh!" Edward said, and he seemed to wake up. 

Alphonse should ask what it was that captivated Edward in the junk shop. 

He wouldn’t.


	23. spell

"There’s no such thing as magic," Edward said, brow turned down in a frown as he stared at Roy over the table. It was as if Roy had just pronounced he was actually a fish, and his entire existence was some kind of ridiculous, cosmic joke - that was the expression on Edward’s face. “Alchemists don’t believe in magic.” 

He said it like it was an absolute truth of the world, that there was no doubt in Edward Elric’s mind that magic simply did not exist. The intricacies of alchemy were easily explained away by chemical reactions and latent energy harnessed by the complicated arrays that alchemists wove, there was an explanation, and a place, for everything. 

But yet - Edward was sitting at his dining room table, voluntarily. He came here of his own volition, lay sleeping and vulnerable beside Roy in his own bed, now he was wearing one of Roy’s shirts that hung too long on him and could be a nightdress on a woman but on Edward it simply looked right … he was HERE, wasn’t he? 

With the fork dangling out of his mouth, Edward squinted at Roy as if trying to unravel all of the mysteries of Mustang’s mind at far too early on a Wednesday morning. “You’re so weird,” he pronounced finally, and resumed shoveling breakfast into his mouth. “Magic,” he snorted again, around a mouth full of scrambled eggs. 

Roy smiled, smitten despite himself, chin in hand - hopeless, inexorably, irrevocably in love with the younger blond man sitting perched at his breakfast table, scoffing the food set before him like a starving baby bird. 

And really, wasn’t there just the littlest bit of magic in that?


	24. the

Edward drummed on the headboard of the bunk, his hands coming perilously close to his brother’s head. Alphonse was barely used to sleeping again - only a few months back into flesh, he was not fond of being suddenly roused from a comfortable, sound sleep, but Edward had bounced up, his feet locked in the headboard of the bottom bunk so he could reach Alphonse’s. “Up, up,” he all-but sang. “Get UP, we’ve gotta go~” 

Alphonse lifted his head blearily, thought about all the ways and times it had been nigh-impossible to pry Edward out of his own bed, and then dropped his face into his pillow with a groan, hearing Edward’s feet patter excitedly about the room. 

His brother was acting the exact opposite of what he was expecting. Two, almost three months in Resembool - waiting for Alphonse to regain his feet, so to speak - and the moment he was mobile it was off on a train back toward Central City. 

Except not, they had gotten derailed (almost literally), ended up elsewhere along the way and it was almost as if nothing had changed. However, instead of a nigh-invulnerable suit of armor, able to protect his brother, Alphonse was now just squishy pink mortal flesh and had to prudently keep himself out of the line of fire. 

All the same, Edward was bouncing about like he was excited to finally get on the train and back on track toward Central City. In all his time, Alphonse had never known Edward to be EXCITED about reporting in to Colonel Mustang…. 

Alphonse lifted his head again and groaned as he felt the entire bed shake. “If you don’t get your ass out of bed I’ll roll you out,” Edward threatened, hands behind his head as he plaited his hair.


	25. outside the gate

It was past dusk, and the last gasp of a smothering late August heat wave had fallen across the land. Even this late Roy carried the military jacket folded over his arm, sleeves of his dress shirt rolled past the elbow and top few buttons undone. Impropriety had taken a back seat to sheer creature comfort, and the only thing he could think of was getting home, turning off all the lights, opening the windows and lying in front of the single creaky floor fan. 

There was no breeze, just stagnant night air. A cloud of gnats buzzed around the street lamps, and Roy felt the sweat slide under his collar as he walked the long path home. 

He had insisted he walk home - it seemed like a foolish idea now, Havoc would have had him home in half this time but then he came upon the bridge over the canal that cut through two near his home and he remembered why it was so important to him to walk. 

Edward was sitting on one of the many support pylons that lined the pedestrian bridge, his feet dangling over the side that dropped down into the shallow canal below. He was eating a piece of bread - always eating, every time Roy saw him, ravenous like a baby bird - and was tearing off small bits to fling at the ducks that swam in the water below. 

"I hate ducks," Edward said without turning around, and Roy paused, curious if Edward knew he was there, or was simply just talking to himself again. 

"Good evening, Fullmetal," Roy rumbled, and wondered how Edward didn’t get heatstroke in that heavy thick red coat of his. 

"You’re late," Edward said around a mouth full of bread. "An’ don’t call me Fullmetal, you’re off the clock."


	26. famous last words

Alphonse shook his head, feet dangling from the top bunk. Edward wasn’t quite sure how he’d managed to climb up there, but as he still required a cane and some patience to get around, he wasn’t sure he actually wanted to know. “You are ridiculous, brother.” 

Edward yanked the heavy blanket back up over his head and screwed his eyes shut. Maybe if he ignored Alphonse, his brother would give up and go away like a neglected dog. The odds of that actually happening though were ridiculously low, especially since Alphonse leaned over the bunk and started prodding at Edward’s prone form with the pointy end of his cane. “Don’t go back to sleep.” 

"Go AWAY," Edward grumbled, inching away from the annoyance. "Go away and leave me to die." 

"I don’t know what you’re so upset about," Alphonse continued. "I mean, the colonel kissed you. Wasn’t that what you wanted?" 

Wasn’t it? 

Edward groaned and turned his face into the pillow, trying to push the memory of the kiss out of his mind. He wasn’t sure who was more surprised, him or Winry, given that she was his freaking DATE to the military ball - or that fact that Mustang finally developed the balls to act on the attraction that had been sparking between them for the past two years. (He would bet that was spurred on by the fact that Edward actually brought a date to the ball - bastard had to act fast before his chance was gone forever!) 

"I hate you," Edward said into the pillow, unsure if he meant his annoyance of a younger brother, or the man who was turning his stomach into a roiling ball of anxiety. "Fuckin’ HATE you." 

"Yeah, yeah," Alphonse said, feet still kicking. "That’s what you’ve said for years."


	27. valentine's day

Roy looked over the newspaper at the heart-shaped box Edward dropped on his desk. The box itself bulged slightly outward in the middle, and Roy eyed it suspiciously. “What,” he asked. “Is that?”

Edward - bright-eyed, mouth twitching as if he wanted to grin and not a trace of shame or embarrassment on his face - actually met his eye. “An elephant.”

"Cute," Roy said drolly. "I’m not interested in your leftover chocolate, Fullmetal - I have plenty of my own to dispose of."

"Who said anything about leftovers?" Edward said, hands shoved in his pockets and head cocked to the side. He was disconcerting, in brown and cream - no less a spitfire, even if the pallet had grown muted with adulthood. "That’s for you."

"For me," Roy said stiffly. Edward nodded, eyes never leaving Roy’s. Roy closed the newspaper and looked down at the heart-shaped box, before returning his gaze to Edward. "Do I need to call your brother? Are you unwell?"

"Can’t a guy do something nice for his XO without people thinking he’s a changeling or something?" Edward’s hands came out of his pockets and fell on his hips, and now he just looked sulky. "Jeez."

"You never do anything nice for anyone who isn’t your brother," Roy said. He looked at the box again, and at that suspicious bulge. "There’s a real heart in this box, isn’t there."

Edward let out a long, exaggerated sigh. “GodDAMMIT.”

"Thought you were an atheist," Roy murmured on reflex, and Edward snorted. "Is there really a heart in this box?"

"It was Al’s idea," Edward said, casually throwing his brother under the bus.

"Dare I ask whose heart you’ve managed to stuff into this cardboard contraption?" Roy asked somehow resisting the urge to poke it.

Edward leaned forward. “Mine.”


End file.
